Danish West Indian Islands sale referendum, 1916

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A referendum on the sale of the Danish West Indian Islands to the United States of America was held in Denmark on 14 December 1916. [1] The non-binding referendum saw 283,670 vote in favor of the sale and 158,157 against. The residents of the islands were not allowed to vote on the matter, but in an unofficial vote on St. Croix arranged by David Hamilton Jackson, 4,027 voted in favor of the sale and only seven voted against. As a result of the referendum the islands were formally relinquished to the United States by the Treaty of the Danish West Indies on 31 March 1917 as the United States Virgin Islands for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold.

Denmark constitutional monarchy in Europe

Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country and the southernmost of the Scandinavian nations. Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), land area of 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million.

Treaty of the Danish West Indies

The Treaty of the Danish West Indies, officially the Convention between the United States and Denmark for cession of the Danish West Indies, was a 1916 treaty transferring sovereignty of the Virgin Islands in the Danish West Indies from Denmark to the United States in exchange for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold.

United States Virgin Islands group of islands in the Caribbean

The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, is a group of islands in the Caribbean and an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.

Contents

Background

Two of the islands had been in Danish possession since the 17th century and St. Croix since 1733. The glory days of the colony had been from around 1750 to 1850 based on transit trade and the production of rum and sugar using African slaves as labor. [2] By the second half of the 19th century the sugar production was embattled by the cultivation of sugar beets, and although the slaves had been emancipated in 1848, the agricultural land and the trade was still controlled by the white population, and the living conditions of the descendants of the slaves were poor.

Sugar beet Plant grown commercially for sugar production

A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet. Together with other beet cultivars, such as beetroot and chard, it belongs to the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. Its closest wild relative is the sea beet.

At the negotiations for the Treaty of Vienna after the defeat in the Second Schleswig War in 1864, Denmark had tried to use the islands as a trade-in for South Jutland, but the Prussian Government was not interested. [2]

Treaty of Vienna (1864)

The Treaty of Vienna was a peace treaty signed on 30 October 1864 in Vienna between the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Kingdom of Denmark. The treaty ended the Second War of Schleswig. Its terms provided that Prussia would administer Schleswig, and Austria would similarly govern Holstein. Disputes over the administration of the two provinces would lead to the 1866 Austro-Prussian War.

Second Schleswig War The second military conflict as a result of the Schleswig-Holstein Question

The Second Schleswig War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 February 1864, when Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig. Denmark fought the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. Like the First Schleswig War (1848–52), it was fought for control of the duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg, due to the succession disputes concerning them when the Danish king died without an heir acceptable to the German Confederation. Controversy arose due to the passing of the November Constitution, which integrated the Duchy of Schleswig into the Danish kingdom in violation of the London Protocol. Reasons for the war were the ethnic controversy in Schleswig and the co-existence of conflicting political systems within the Danish unitary state.

Duchy of Schleswig region between Germany and Denmark

The Duchy of Schleswig was a duchy in Southern Jutland (Sønderjylland) covering the area between about 60 km north and 70 km south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany. The region is also called Sleswick in English.

At the eve of the American Civil War, the United States became interested in the islands as the possible location of a Caribbean naval base. A referendum on transferring ownership from Denmark to the United States was held on 9 January 1868 on the islands of Sankt Jan and Sankt Thomas, two of three main islands in the colony. Of the votes cast, 98% were in favor of the transfer. On 24 October 1867 the Danish parliament, the Rigsdag, ratified a treaty on the sale of the two islands for a sum of US$7,500,000. [3] [4] However, the United States Senate did not ratify the treaty due to concerns over a number of natural disasters that had struck the islands and a political feud with and the possible impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. [3]

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands one of the main islands of the United States Virgin Islands

Saint John is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States.

Negotiations resumed in 1899, and on 24 January 1902 Washington signed a convention on the transfer of the islands for a sum of US$5,000,000. [5] [6] One chamber of the Danish parliament — the Folketing — passed the proposal, but in the other chamber — the Landsting — it failed with 32 votes against 32. In particular the conservative party Højre opposed it on the grounds that the treaty did not ensure the local population a vote on the matter, and that it did not grant them US citizenship or freedom from customs duty on the export of sugar to the United States. [2] [6] According to historian Povl Engelstoft, there is no doubt that Council President Johan Henrik Deuntzer was privately against the sale even though his party, the Venstre Reform Party, supported it, and when the Landsting failed to pass the proposal, he made a statement that neither did he see a reason for the cabinet to step down, nor would he dissolve the Landsting or assume responsibility for any further work related to the sale. [6] This brought the process to a halt.

Folketing Parliament of Denmark

The Folketing, also known as the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national parliament (legislature) of Denmark. Established in 1849, until 1953 the Folketing was the lower house of a bicameral parliament, called the Rigsdag; the upper house was Landstinget. It meets in Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen.

Højre was the name of two Danish political parties of Conservative persuasion.

Negotiations

Famous labor leader David Hamilton Jackson, made a visit to Copenhagen in May 1915. He successfully raised awareness of the growing social desperation on the islands and the need for to enter the customs territory of the United States in order for the islands to be able to cope with their economic crisis. After his visit a majority of the Folketing, was convinced that the Danish supremacy of the islands had to end. [7] The First World War had created a new situation: The relations between Germany and the United States were becoming worse as a consequence of the German submarine warfare, and the Americans were concerned that after an invasion of Denmark the Germans might take control of the islands. [8] This would be unacceptable to the Americans as stated in the Monroe Doctrine.

Copenhagen Capital of Denmark

Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. As of July 2018, the city has a population of 777,218. It forms the core of the wider urban area of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Copenhagen is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand; another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.

World War I 1914–1918 global war originating in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

German interest in the Caribbean was a series of unsuccessful proposals made by the Imperial German Navy during the late nineteenth century to establish a coaling station somewhere in the Caribbean. Germany was rapidly building a world-class navy but coal burning warships needed frequent refueling and could only operate within range of a coaling station. Preliminary plans were vetoed by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. By 1900 American "naval planners were obsessed with German designs in the hemisphere and countered with energetic efforts to secure naval sites in the Caribbean." German naval planners in the 1890-1910 era denounced the Monroe Doctrine as a self-aggrandizing legal pretension to dominate the hemisphere. They were even more concerned with the possible American canal in Panama, because it would lead to full American hegemony in the Caribbean. The stakes were laid out in the German war aims proposed by the Navy in 1903: a "firm position in the West Indies," a "free hand in South America," and an official "revocation of the Monroe Doctrine" would provide a solid foundation for "our trade to the West Indies, Central and South America."

The Danish government was convinced that the islands had to be sold for the sake of both the residents and Danish security, and that a transfer would have to be realized before the United States entered the war, so that the transfer would not become a violation of the Danish neutrality. [5] [7] During May 1915, Foreign Minister of Denmark Erik Scavenius contacted the American government with the message that he believed that the islands ought to be sold to the United States and that although he would not make an official proposal, "if the United States gave any encouragement to the consideration of the possibility of such a sale, it might be possible." [9]

On 29 October 1915 United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing managed to reopen the negotiations. [8] [10] The negotiations, which lasted until August 1916, were kept absolutely secret in order to maintain the Danish neutrality. [8] [11] Although rumours of the future sale did leak to the press, they were denied categorically by both Scavenius and Minister of Finance Edvard Brandes. [12] During 1916, the two sides agreed to a sale price of $25,000,000, and the United States accepted a Danish demand for a declaration stating that they would "not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland." [8] [13] Historian Bo Lidegaard questions the utility of such a declaration, however, as the United States had never disputed Danish sovereignty. [8]

Government crisis

The government informed the parliament of the negotiations and their result in August 1916, and the message aroused bitter feelings in particular among the conservatives and to some degree within Venstre. The outrage was partially based on the government's readiness to hand off a part of the kingdom for money and partially on the secrecy regarding all the preparations and that the denials by the two ministers had been completely contrary to facts. [14] Those who opposed the sale now demanded that the treaty should be reviewed by a new parliament, with the intent to trigger a new election and hoping that the government would thereby lose its majority in the Folketing. [15] In response, the government proposed a referendum on the issue as had recently become possible with the Constitution of 1915. The Landsting rejected this proposal, triggering a government crisis. [15]

The prospect of forming a broad-based government of national unity proved to be extremely difficult due to the poisoned atmosphere, and after Scavenius on 6 September had rejected an offer from Christian X of Denmark to form a new government, the parties found a compromise on 30 September: each of the three opposition parties would appoint one of their members to enter the cabinet as Ministers without Portfolio, a commission to document the negotiations on the sale would be established, and a referendum would be held. [16] [17] [18] The referendum would include the Faroe Islands, but neither Iceland nor Greenland, [18] nor would it include the West Indian Islands, and it would be non-binding in the sense that in the case of a majority in favour of the sale the parliament would still have the right to reject it. [19] The commission published its report on 2 December with the recommendation to approve the sale. [20]

Results

The referendum was held on 14 December 1916. As the election act of 1915, which significantly increased the number of eligible voters, was used for the referendum even though it did not otherwise take effect until 1918, the exact number of eligible voters is unknown but estimated at 1,200,000. [19]

ChoiceVotes%
For283,67064.2
Against158,15735.8
Invalid/blank votes7,267–
Total449,094100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

In an unofficial vote on St. Croix arranged by Hamilton Jackson 4,027 voted in favour of the sale and only seven voted against. [2] On 21 December the Danish parliament ratified the treaty, and on 9 March 1917 Christian X of Denmark officially said goodbye to the islands in an open letter. [21] On 1 April the formal transfer of the islands took place, only five days before the United States declared war on Germany. [21]

In an attempt to create national reconciliation, most of the 25 million dollars was spent in Southern Jutland after the Schleswig Plebiscites and the return of the region to Danish rule in 1920. [2]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p524 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Schepelern, Otto (3 April 2007). "Dansk Vestindien: En bittersød historie" (in Danish). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark . Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  3. 1 2 "Transfer Day". Royal Danish Consulate - United States Virgin Islands. Retrieved 2007-07-08.
  4. ↑ Wendt, Frantz (1951). "Rigsdagen 1915-40". In Bomholt, Jul.; Fabricius, Knud; Hjelholt, Holger; Mackeprang, M.; Møller, Andr. (eds.). Den danske rigsdag 1849-1949 bind II - Rigsdagens historie 1866-1949 (in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag. p. 292.
  5. 1 2 Scavenius, Erik (1959). Dansk udenrigspolitik under den første verdenskrig (in Danish). Copenhagen: Forlaget Fremad. p. 92.
  6. 1 2 3 Engelstoft, Povl (1951). "Under grundloven af 1866". In Bomholt, Jul.; Fabricius, Knud; Hjelholt, Holger; Mackeprang, M.; Møller, Andr. (eds.). Den danske rigsdag 1849-1949 bind II - Rigsdagens historie 1866-1949 (in Danish). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz Forlag. pp. 197–199.
  7. 1 2 Lidegaard, Bo (2006) [2003]. Dansk udenrigspolitiks historie 4: Overleveren 1914-1945 (in Danish) (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Gyldendal. p. 80. ISBN   87-02-04976-7.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Lidegaard, p. 81.
  9. ↑ Tansill, Charles Callan (1966) [1932]. The Purchase of the Danish West Indies. The Albert Shaw lectures on diplomatic history. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Peter Smith. p. 468.
  10. ↑ Scavenius, p. 93
  11. ↑ Wendt, p. 293
  12. ↑ Wendt, pp. 293-4
  13. ↑ Tansill, p. 537.
  14. ↑ Wendt, p. 294.
  15. 1 2 Lidegaard, p. 84.
  16. ↑ Lidegaard, pp. 84–85.
  17. ↑ Wendt, pp. 310–12.
  18. 1 2 Tansill, pp. 511–12
  19. 1 2 "Statistisk Årbog 2007. Befolkning og valg" (in Danish). Retrieved 2007-08-18. Statistics Denmark, p. 65.
  20. ↑ Wendt, p. 312.
  21. 1 2 Wendt, p. 314.
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